thor has maintained the highest standards of scholarship without al­lowing
her writing to bog down in pedantic trivia.
Note on the author: Charlotte Erickson (Mrs. G. L. Watt) is a lec­turer
on history at the London School of Economics. Dr. Erickson
completed her undergraduate work at Augustana College in Rock
Island, Illinois, as a student of Dr. O. F. Ander. Later she studied
under Professor Paul Gates at Cornell where she received her doc­torate.
The recipient of several research scholarships, Dr. Erickson
spent seven years in preparing this volume. She approaches the
story of the immigrant in America out of a family background which
is predominantly Swedish. Her father's parents emigrated to Ameri­ca
after the Civil War, while her mother is a descendant of a Swed­ish
pioneer family which settled in Minnesota during the days of
homesteads and sod houses.
JAMES IVERNE DOWIE
Augustana College
LINCOLN IMAGES; AUGUSTANA COLLEGE CENTENNIAL E S ­SAYS,
O. Fritiof Ander (ed.), Rock Island, Augustana College L i ­brary,
1960. 151 pp., $3.95.
This book offers seven essays on Lincoln, all of them readable and
useful. Two of these are bibliographical; one a survey of the total
Lincoln literature, asking whether anything more remains to be
written on the subjects; the other a useful listing of Lincolniana
available at the Library of Augustana College.
The five substantive essays have to do with aspects of Lincoln's
life. Fritiof Ander's "Lincoln and the Founders of Augustana Col­lege"
has already appeared in this journal [Swedish Pioneer, April,
1960] and needs no review.
T. Harry Williams describes the changing moods of historians as
they have inquired into the causes of the Civil War, and suggests
that different times produce different ideas about the past. The i n ­terested
layman should find in this essay several reliable aids to the
sorting out of "party opinion" among the historians.
Robert Sutton's image of Lincoln as "one of the successful, if not
the most successful, corporation lawyer in the state of Illinois," is
drawn delightfully. He traces the rise of railroads and the rise of
Lincoln in parallel columns as it were, and the resulting vignette will
be especially useful to those who persist in seeing Lincoln as beyond
ordinary mortal cares. In this connection, it is well to remember
Fritiof Ander's comment that the Swedes were not much interested
133
in the "railsplitter"; what attracted them was the successful attorney,
a man kept under retainer by the Illinois Central Railroad lest it
have to face him in the courts.
Ralph Roske relates Lincoln and the crusty Senator from Illinois,
Lyman Trumbull. Trumbull was not the only contemporary who
failed to stay alive to Lincoln's growth during the war, but his habit
of Senatorial criticism was biting not only because he was at home
"on the H i l l " but also because he never remained close to Lincoln's
ear after the first inauguration. Trumbull had beaten out Lincoln for
a Senate seat in 1855, as Douglas did in 1858. Doubtless he felt senior
to the man he had defeated. As late as 1864, he voted for Lincoln
primarily because he saw no one better on the horizon.
Norman Graebner's description of Lincoln's foreign policy empha­sizes
his "conservatism." Neither in his war policy, nor in his dis­patches
to other governments would Lincoln allow a "crusading"
spirit to outstrip his real capacity to act. He was, says Graebner, a
"realist," whose primary aim was the protection of the national in­terest.
This is a useful application of the "Morgenthau thesis"; it
certainly corrects some wild notions among those who seem to think
that a brass band playing The Battle Hymn surrounded the White
House.
But Graebner goes too far. Lincoln almost certainly had something
more in mind than a simple political fact when he used the great
word "union." Though he had grown immeasurably, this was still the
lonely man who had nearly wrecked a budding political career in
1846 by opposing Mr. Polk's "realism" and the Mexican War. For
Lincoln, America had something profound to do with mankind, some­thing
greater than the words "national interest" can comprehend.
The volume is dedicated to Carl Sandburg, a Galesburg Swede and
a foremost Lincoln scholar. Perhaps this happy idea is the most
meaningful connection that can be established between Abraham
Lincoln and the Swedes of Illinois.
ZENOS HAWKINSON
North Park College
134

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

All rights held by the Swedish-American Historical Society. No part of this publication, except in the case of brief quotations, may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the editor and, where appropriate, the original author(s). For more information, please email the Society at info@swedishamericanhist.org

thor has maintained the highest standards of scholarship without al­lowing
her writing to bog down in pedantic trivia.
Note on the author: Charlotte Erickson (Mrs. G. L. Watt) is a lec­turer
on history at the London School of Economics. Dr. Erickson
completed her undergraduate work at Augustana College in Rock
Island, Illinois, as a student of Dr. O. F. Ander. Later she studied
under Professor Paul Gates at Cornell where she received her doc­torate.
The recipient of several research scholarships, Dr. Erickson
spent seven years in preparing this volume. She approaches the
story of the immigrant in America out of a family background which
is predominantly Swedish. Her father's parents emigrated to Ameri­ca
after the Civil War, while her mother is a descendant of a Swed­ish
pioneer family which settled in Minnesota during the days of
homesteads and sod houses.
JAMES IVERNE DOWIE
Augustana College
LINCOLN IMAGES; AUGUSTANA COLLEGE CENTENNIAL E S ­SAYS,
O. Fritiof Ander (ed.), Rock Island, Augustana College L i ­brary,
1960. 151 pp., $3.95.
This book offers seven essays on Lincoln, all of them readable and
useful. Two of these are bibliographical; one a survey of the total
Lincoln literature, asking whether anything more remains to be
written on the subjects; the other a useful listing of Lincolniana
available at the Library of Augustana College.
The five substantive essays have to do with aspects of Lincoln's
life. Fritiof Ander's "Lincoln and the Founders of Augustana Col­lege"
has already appeared in this journal [Swedish Pioneer, April,
1960] and needs no review.
T. Harry Williams describes the changing moods of historians as
they have inquired into the causes of the Civil War, and suggests
that different times produce different ideas about the past. The i n ­terested
layman should find in this essay several reliable aids to the
sorting out of "party opinion" among the historians.
Robert Sutton's image of Lincoln as "one of the successful, if not
the most successful, corporation lawyer in the state of Illinois," is
drawn delightfully. He traces the rise of railroads and the rise of
Lincoln in parallel columns as it were, and the resulting vignette will
be especially useful to those who persist in seeing Lincoln as beyond
ordinary mortal cares. In this connection, it is well to remember
Fritiof Ander's comment that the Swedes were not much interested
133
in the "railsplitter"; what attracted them was the successful attorney,
a man kept under retainer by the Illinois Central Railroad lest it
have to face him in the courts.
Ralph Roske relates Lincoln and the crusty Senator from Illinois,
Lyman Trumbull. Trumbull was not the only contemporary who
failed to stay alive to Lincoln's growth during the war, but his habit
of Senatorial criticism was biting not only because he was at home
"on the H i l l " but also because he never remained close to Lincoln's
ear after the first inauguration. Trumbull had beaten out Lincoln for
a Senate seat in 1855, as Douglas did in 1858. Doubtless he felt senior
to the man he had defeated. As late as 1864, he voted for Lincoln
primarily because he saw no one better on the horizon.
Norman Graebner's description of Lincoln's foreign policy empha­sizes
his "conservatism." Neither in his war policy, nor in his dis­patches
to other governments would Lincoln allow a "crusading"
spirit to outstrip his real capacity to act. He was, says Graebner, a
"realist," whose primary aim was the protection of the national in­terest.
This is a useful application of the "Morgenthau thesis"; it
certainly corrects some wild notions among those who seem to think
that a brass band playing The Battle Hymn surrounded the White
House.
But Graebner goes too far. Lincoln almost certainly had something
more in mind than a simple political fact when he used the great
word "union." Though he had grown immeasurably, this was still the
lonely man who had nearly wrecked a budding political career in
1846 by opposing Mr. Polk's "realism" and the Mexican War. For
Lincoln, America had something profound to do with mankind, some­thing
greater than the words "national interest" can comprehend.
The volume is dedicated to Carl Sandburg, a Galesburg Swede and
a foremost Lincoln scholar. Perhaps this happy idea is the most
meaningful connection that can be established between Abraham
Lincoln and the Swedes of Illinois.
ZENOS HAWKINSON
North Park College
134